The invention relates to an apparatus for the thread-stitching of folded print products, such an apparatus including a sewing station in which the individual print products are stitched along their fold and are then sewn together in the spine region that contains the fold, so as to form a book block. The apparatus includes a pivoting saddle for conveying the individual print products, positioned straddling thereon, to the sewing station, as well as a feeding arrangement having a feed end that cooperates with a feeder for supplying the individual print products and a discharge end which operates jointly with the pivoting saddle and supplies the individual print products to the pivoting saddle.
An apparatus of this type is known from Great Britain patent document GB 1425974, wherein the print products can be pulled with the aid of a gripper from the underside of a stack and can then be supplied to the carriers of a conveyor belt that circulates in a slanted upward direction. To pull them from the stack, the print products are gripped along the folding edge and are deposited on the conveyor belt, such that the folding edge of the print product is at the trailing end. An opening device is arranged along the conveyor belt which functions to successively open up the print products along the forward-facing, unbound edge and to transfer the product in the opened state to a rotating gripper drum. The gripper drum grips the individual print products along an overhanging edge of a print product leg that fits against the gripper drum. This is intended to open up the print product even further and allow the product to drop onto an underneath-arranged saddle once the gripper drum reaches a specific location. The saddle, which is designed to pivot and is controlled by an endless cam curve, functions to transfer the print product to the sewing station where the print product is sewn together with the previously conveyed print product while positioned on the saddle. A book block is formed by correspondingly stitching together a number of individual print products.
As a result of its mode of operation and the required configuration, this apparatus requires a considerable amount of space and does not provide easy access for operating personnel.
The thread-stitching machines disclosed in European patent documents EP 665121 A1, EP 893275 A1 and EP 1013470 A1 also require a lot of space. In addition, the feeding distance for these machines is relatively long, which reduces the overview and control over the processing of the print products.